What Is BOPIS? Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store Explained

By Sunaina Patnaik, Content Marketing Senior Analyst

Picture a parent racing between soccer practice and dinner prep who needs a birthday gift today, not in three-to-five business days. Instead of gambling on rush shipping, they order the item online during their lunch break, and by the time they swing by the store after practice, it's already sitting at the pickup counter. No time spent browsing the aisles, no waiting in the checkout line.

That's BOPIS (short for Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store), an omnichannel fulfillment method where customers purchase items through a digital channel and collect them at a physical retail location. It blends the convenience of ecommerce browsing with the immediacy of walking out with the product in hand, and it's become one of the clearest examples of how retailers are dissolving the line between online and in-store shopping.

BOPIS is a fulfillment model that offers customers the convenience and ability to skip shipping time and delivery fees. BOPIS enables shoppers to purchase an item online and pick it up same-day. For business-to-business (B2B) buyers, BOPIS enables a procurement team or technician to collect bulk orders or parts on their own schedule instead of waiting on freight. Here’s how it works:

1. The customer browses products on a brand's website or mobile app.
2. At checkout, the customer selects "pick up in store" and chooses a convenient location.
3. The store associate receives a notification and picks the item from local inventory — or requests a transfer from another location if stock isn't available locally.
4. The customer receives a notification when the order is ready.
5. The customer visits the store and collects the order from a designated pickup counter or curbside pickup zone.
6. If the item doesn't meet expectations, the customer can inspect it and initiate a return or exchange during the same visit.

In simple terms, BOPIS relies on integrated point-of-sale (POS), order management, and real-time inventory systems across online and physical channels. Without synchronized stock data, notification failures break customer trust and collapse the model.

Many customers find BOPIS ideal for these main reasons:

Shipping fees are a common friction point in ecommerce. For low-value orders, carrier fees can outpace the cost of the item itself, pushing buyers toward abandonment before they check out. BOPIS removes that cost entirely by shifting last-mile responsibility to the customer.

B2B buyers face the same problem with sample orders and smaller procurement runs. A manufacturing buyer placing a test order for components doesn't want to absorb freight charges that exceed the item's value. With BOPIS, sellers convert these micro-purchases that might otherwise stall in the cart — and build the purchasing habit that leads to larger orders over time.

When a customer needs something today, standard shipping isn't a viable option. BOPIS fulfills orders by pulling items directly from store shelves, enabling same-day or even same-hour availability for in-stock items. Click and collect removes the wait time required by standard carriers.

In B2B, speed becomes a competitive differentiator. Urgent restocking for a job site, event-driven purchases, or time-sensitive project needs don't accommodate standard delivery windows. A field technician who needs a replacement part before a scheduled maintenance window can't wait. BOPIS closes that gap in a way that home delivery simply can't.

One of the more underappreciated aspects of BOPIS is the guarantee it provides before the buyer makes the trip. When a customer selects "pick up in store," the system confirms item availability at the chosen location. They're not driving across town on a guess.

For B2B procurement teams, this assurance is mission-critical. A procurement manager can't send a team member to collect a component only to find the shelf empty. Real-time inventory accuracy is the technical requirement that makes this promise credible. Without it, the system fails the buyer at the worst possible moment and erodes the trust that makes repeat purchasing possible.

BOPIS creates a natural inspection moment at pickup. Customers can open the package, verify the item against expectations, and return it on the spot if something is off. No re-boxing, no return label, and no waiting for a refund to clear.

This removes significant risk from high-consideration purchases. Buying equipment, specialty components, or materials that must meet precise specifications carries inherent uncertainty. BOPIS lets buyers verify before fully committing, which builds the kind of trust that turns a first order into a long-term supply relationship.

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BOPIS doesn’t only benefit customers; it also comes with advantages for businesses across the full operation, from cost structure to customer lifetime value (CLV). The benefits play out differently for B2C and B2B contexts, but the underlying logic is consistent: putting inventory closer to the buyer and the transaction closer to the store creates a more efficient commerce model. Here’s how key BOPIS benefits compare across selling models:

Last-mile delivery is the most expensive segment of the fulfillment process. Shifting pickup responsibility to the customer helps you reduce carrier fees and packaging waste — all while avoiding the complexity of coordinating delivery windows.

For B2B sellers, every BOPIS order is one fewer shipment to coordinate with freight carriers or third-party logistics (3PL) providers. At scale, that reduction compounds quickly. Retailers with large physical store networks can treat each location as a fulfillment node, turning existing square footage into a cost advantage. Omnichannel commerce platforms are built to support this kind of distributed fulfillment model, connecting inventory across every location in real time.

Customers picking up BOPIS orders are already converted — they made the purchase decision online. That makes them receptive to in-store recommendations. According to the Salesforce Shopping Index, 88% of shoppers say an in-store experience influences their buying decision, which means the pickup moment is also a selling moment.

For B2B sellers, this dynamic is even more direct. A wholesale buyer collecting a sample order is a warm prospect for a larger contract. A sales associate who discusses bulk pricing, adjacent products, or service agreements during pickup is far more likely to advance that conversation than a cold outreach sent days later.

BOPIS requires real-time inventory visibility across all channels, pushing retailers to connect systems that have historically operated as separate departments. Online and in-store inventory data flows into a single view, enabling stores to fulfill online orders when a warehouse is out of stock, accept online returns for immediate resale, and move inventory between locations to match demand. For B2B enterprises, this means better working capital management. Inventory moves faster, carrying costs drop, and stockout risk decreases.

Implementing BOPIS requires operational changes that touch technology, physical space, and staffing. The challenges are real, but each has a practical solution.

• Disconnected inventory systems: Online and in-store inventory data need to flow together in real time. POS and Order Management systems that share a unified view of stock levels across all fulfillment locations are foundational.
• Inventory accuracy gaps: If stock counts are unreliable, BOPIS orders may include items that aren't actually available. Two-way integration between the ecommerce platform and every fulfillment location closes this gap.
• Dedicated pickup areas: Stores need a clearly marked pickup counter or curbside zone with consistent signage and trained associates. Without a designated space, the customer experience degrades quickly.
• Staffing and labor demands: Fulfilling BOPIS orders adds workload for store associates. Workforce management tools help with scheduling, and smart locker systems (BOPIL) reduce the need for associate involvement in high-volume locations.
• Customer communication delays: Unclear or late pickup notifications create frustration. Automated SMS and email alerts triggered by order status updates keep customers informed at every step.

Real-time inventory accuracy sits at the foundation of every item on this list. Address it first, and the rest of the implementation becomes significantly more manageable.

BOPIS is the most widely recognized omnichannel fulfillment model, but it sits within a broader family of related strategies. Each addresses a specific gap in the standard BOPIS model and expands fulfillment options.

BOPIL is a self-service variant of BOPIS where customers retrieve orders from smart lockers rather than a staffed pickup counter. The locker holds the order until the customer arrives, removing wait times and the constraint of store operating hours.

The business case for lockers over counters depends on volume and staffing. High-volume retailers where pickup lines create bottlenecks are natural candidates. For locations with limited staffing, BOPIL shifts the fulfillment load entirely away from associates. In B2B, after-hours access is a genuine advantage: a maintenance crew that needs supplies before an early-morning shift doesn't have to wait for a store to open.

BORIS lets customers return online purchases at physical retail locations. The customer brings the item in, the associate processes the return, and the inventory goes back on the shelf the same day.

The return visit is also a conversion opportunity. An associate who engages a customer returning the wrong item can guide them to the right product, turning a refund into an exchange. For B2B buyers returning a component that didn't meet specifications, that conversation is the beginning of the correct order. Connected Commerce platforms make the handoff between return and reorder immediate, so buyers leave with what they need.

BOSS addresses the "out of stock" problem locally. When an item isn't available at a customer's preferred pickup location, BOSS ships it from a warehouse or another store so the customer can still collect it locally.

For B2B enterprises with inventory distributed across multiple warehouses, store locations, and drop-ship partners, BOSS turns every location into a potential fulfillment node. The out-of-stock message stops being a dead end. A buyer who needs a product that isn't locally available gets a fulfillment path that keeps the sale and the relationship intact.

ROPIS is a reservation model where customers hold items online without paying until they complete the transaction in store. The customer arrives, evaluates the product in person, and pays at checkout — or walks away if it doesn't meet expectations. Payment isn't collected until the buyer commits.

This model works best for high-consideration, high-return categories: apparel, furniture, electronics, or any product where tactile evaluation matters before purchase. For B2B buyers, ROPIS suits equipment, machinery, or specialty materials where specifications need physical verification. B2B commerce platforms that support reservation workflows give enterprise sellers a more consultative fulfillment option for these scenarios — closer to a relationship sale than a standard transaction.

BOPIS, BOPIL, BORIS, BOSS, and ROPIS are successful omnichannel retail strategies that remain competitive as buyer expectations evolve. Data shows that customers now expect these options as part of a regular shopping experience: 70% of shoppers have purchased online and shipped to store, 65% have bought online and picked up in store, 62% have returned a store purchase in person, and 37% have returned an online purchase to a store.

Retailers and B2B sellers who don't offer these options risk losing out to competitors who do. BOPIS has evolved from a pandemic-era workaround to a permanent feature of the commerce environment.

The foundational investment is unified inventory and real-time visibility across every channel. O2O retail (online-to-offline) models, including BOPIS, BOPIL, BORIS, and BOSS, depend on this infrastructure. Without it, these models fail. With it, every store becomes a fulfillment hub. Commerce AI takes it further by predicting demand and routing orders intelligently, so retailers can match inventory to buyer intent before a pickup request comes in.

BOPIS has moved from a convenience to an expectation, and the tech stack underneath it — connected inventory, synced POS, real-time visibility — is what makes that expectation possible to meet. Commerce Cloud builds on that foundation, using agentic AI to handle the routine work of matching stock to demand and fulfilling orders accurately, so teams can focus where judgment actually matters. Whether it's a shopper grabbing a same-day item or a procurement team sourcing for a production run, your customers are able to buy online and pick up on their own schedule.